Splay Legged Baby Birds
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When we started out as bird breeders, we though we knew everything. We knew everything about nutrition…well, actually we knew they need more then seed, just didn’t know why. We know how to breed them…just leave them alone, they don’t need our help. We knew why the parents fought with each other all the time… OK that’s a lie… Nobody knows that answer!
We started out with cockatiels, and had quite a bit of success.
Then one day we were quickly brought back to earth, and reminded that we didn’t know nearly enough! One of our breeding pairs gave us a deformed chick. The baby’s legs were splay legged. That is when the legs are growing out sideways from the bird, and not under it where it can stand. We did our best and tried to help it, but it died after a few weeks.
A few months later it happened again, and with the same results. That is when we began to read everything on the subject we could get our hands on, and try to prevent it from happening again.
This little Quaker here will be able to live a normal life because it’s owner knew what to do to correct it’s splayed legs. If treatment is started early the legs will continue to grow normally, in a few weeks she will be able to remove the splints.
WHAT CAUSES IT?
Most of the research on splay legged birds seems to indicate the main cause is … You guessed it… Nutrition. How many times have I said this? Most problems that develop with birds can be directly blamed on poor diets, especially all-seed diets!
It is believed that when you have parents being fed an all seed diet, they are not getting nearly enough protein and calcium. Iodine, manganese, magnesium and many other minerals that are critical to reproduction are totally deficient in their diets. And this gets passed down to the chicks.
Other possible cause is not enough, or incorrect, bedding in the nest boxes. Remember, parents sit on their birds to keep them warm. The chicks are being forced down to the ground where they can not get their legs under them, causing the legs to get deformed. In come cases, their legs or joints become fractured.
Some research also indicates that this can be traced to a genetic problem. This is especially true if the parents come from a line of inbreeding. With inbreeding, there is a huge risk of passing along characteristics which can be undesirable, and will multiply with future lines. These genetic problems are suspected in a number of health problems in chicks.
The funny thing is that the parents seem to already know their baby is not quite right. They will refuse to take care of that chick, and concentrate on the rest of the clutch. There is absolutely no visual sign that the chick has a problem! This is what happened with our cockatiels. We had to start hand feeding at a very early age, making us think the splay legged problem was something we did.
In researching this, we also discovered one other possibility. In the wild, birds are always outside and in the sunlight (very important for health). When the chicks hatch, they are also in areas where they get some direct sunlight. But bird breeders were lead to believe that you put up a breeding box and the chicks are born and grown up inside of them. They spend their first few weeks of life…in the dark bottom corner… where there is no sunlight! To solve this, you need to be certain to give the parents a good pelleted diet that contains “active” Vitamin D3. Most of the better mixes do contain it, and it’s passed along to the chicks when the parents feed it.
HOW TO PREVENT IT?
It’s easier to prevent splay legged problems than it is to cure it! So start by getting your birds on a good diet. Many seed mixes contain a lot of millet. This is a very sweet seed and is more appropriate as a snack. It contains only a small amount of protein and calcium, and if this is the “seed of choice” for your bird, then the chicks will certainly have problems.
>>In my ebook “The Easy Parrot System”, I go into great detail about the proper diets for birds. Learn how to convert your birds from a seed diet to a pelleted diet with my step-by-step instructions, and some great ideas on getting your birds to take vitamins. This and many hints can be found in one convenient source:
The Easy Parrot System – Feeding and Nutrition
Breeding birds require a lot of calcium. This can be supplied by using cuttlebones, or by sprinkling powered form over the food. You can even use Tums pills! They contain tons of calcium in an easily digestible form, and do not contain anything that can hurt your bird. The flavored Tums also make it more appealing for them to eat. Just ground them up and sprinkle over their moist food.
If your bird is not on a pellet diet, you must begin getting vitamins and other minerals into their diet. Even the use of mineral blocks is better then nothing.
CURING A CHICK OF SPLAY LEG
The method used to rehabilitate a bird with splay leg will depend on how severe the condition is, and how old the chick is. If the chick has gone untreated for too long, it may not be treatable.
It’s sad that many bird breeders will not take care of such birds, as they are a waste of their time. These birds require a tremendous amount of “special care” that could go on their entire lives. Cages may need to be modified to allow ramps or special perching areas since the bird is unable to walk or easily move around.
What we prefer to do is locate a family that will adopt it. They have to be a very special person who understand what the bird is going through…Like maybe another handicapped person? Several of our birds were adopted out to elderly people with lots of time on their hands, and lots of love to give.
But this medical problem is curable! There are a lot of different and creative ways to go about it.
Step one is to try and identify what is causing it and fix the problem. If the parents are putting too much weight on the chick, add more bedding. Double check the diet and be sure it’s sufficient. Try to get more sunlight into the case… Find some way to get additional light to the chicks.
Curing the bird will involve trying to straighten the legs back under the bird. In severe cases you will need to find some creative ways to accomplish this.
Start by putting some soft bedding, such as paper towel, soft cloth or cotton, into a cup, and place the baby in it so that the legs are fairly straight under him. This will need to be done for a few weeks until the legs heal.
Another method is to “hobble” the legs by strapping/splinting them together. Care must be exercised to ensure that they are not too tight, and won’t cut off circulation or scratch up the legs. One method is to take some “vet wrap” tape (this is bandaging tape that sticks to itself, available at all drug stores). Cut off a thin strip about 4 inches long and gently wrap around the legs in a cross fashion. This will hold the legs together but not force them together too much. Remove the wrap a couple times a day to allow the bird to get the circulation moving in the legs.
Some breeders have created other methods to make a “cast” for the legs out of surgical tubing or cardboard. This would be a better method for larger birds, but it may be difficult to do this with small chicks and prevent scratching up the legs. One method I read about involved using some wooden craft sticks (like they used with popsicles), cutting them to the correct length, and strapping them to the legs using Vet-Wrap. This not only keeps the legs straight, but in the correct position under the chick.
You may also want to check with your vet. Once it has been determined how severe the problem is, a trained avian vet can suggest some additional methods. In very severe cases some sort of traction may be called for. Just remember that even the best methods may not completely cure the birds deformed legs. That does not mean it can’t live a very long, productive life.
>>Check out my ebook at http://www.TheTameParrot.com/cb/ - I believe every parrot owner should have a copy of this. Discover more about getting the perfect bird to fit into your home in “The Easy Parrot System”
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